Betrayal
by Mister Author Guy
Summary: Ash Ketchum has been betrayed. Framed and left to rot by someone he once called a friend, he was stripped of his Pokemon, and only cleared his name a year later. With his partner dead, how can Ash bring revenge on the one who betrayed him? Simple. Show her brother the truth.
1. Chapter 1

**To be honest, I was planning this long before my other story, but I never got around to it. This should set up a bit of the back-story, and I'll sum up the rest of the important stuff at the end.**

Max smiled at his two Pokémon in the Pokémon Center lobby. They had just finished up a hard battle, something he was proud about. The battle, in fact, was against Juan, the eighth Gym Leader of the Hoenn region.

"That was a great job, guys. We made it to the Ever Grande Conference!"

Pulling out some Pokéballs, he returned the two. That being done, he propped his feet up on the nearby table and began to think.

_I could get ahead and register, but the conference isn't for another few months. That wouldn't be a good idea, then. Once you register, you're stuck with the Pokémon you had at the time, no new ones allowed unless you pay for resubmission. I could just train a bit, but that difficult to do on your own, not to mention boring._

He suddenly sat up, an idea popping into his head.

_I'll check on how May is doing! Maybe she finally got around that Red guy to win. Sheesh, what a cheat. Using legendaries to win like that, that's just unfair. Though, I do wonder, _how_ did he manage to get them. All his records show he has no former Pokémon. Oh, right, back to May._

He pulled out his phone, a sleek new model with tens of features, most of which he never used. Being the son of a Gym Leader had its advantages. Flipping it open, he quickly dialed the number. When it stopped ringing, he quickly answered.

"May, its Max. How are you doing?"

His sisters downtrodden voice crackled through.

_"Fine. I don't want to talk about it."_

"Red again? Why does he hate you so much?"

_"I said I don't want to talk about it."_

"Sheesh, May. Just wondering."

_"Oh, alright. The bastard left me alone four contests ago. Said him succeeding. I put it off as bullshit. Turns out this was the last contest of the year. I have four ribbons."_

"Wow.. that's.. cruel. Giving you hope, but knowing you couldn't succeed. How many ribbons did he have when he stopped?"

_"Thirteen. The bastard did it to keep me out this year. He said so himself."_

Max started to get _very_ angry at this 'Red' figure. He had never met the guy, but no-one, and he meant _no-one_ messed with his sister like that. "Why does he hate you so much? You had never even _met _him before this year."

_"He said something about me killing one of his friends. Or, as he says, being indirectly responsible with my selfish actions."_

He started to sputter. "What? _You? _Kill someone? That's ridiculous!"

As the siblings continued their conversation, Max failed to notice he was being watched. The teen in the black hoodie turned his head to the air next to him. "Ridiculous, he says. I thought so too, until it happened. So did you, I bet."

Only the briefest flash of pink graced his statement with an answer, but it was enough.

"Yeah, I know. Maybe Misty, but _never_ May. Only Dawn would be less likely. Come on, let's get a room."

He started walking forwards, ignoring the whispers of "Crazy guy" that ran around the room. He got that a lot. When he reached the counter, he started talking with the nurse.

"Hello, would like me to heal your Pokémon?"

He smiled sadly. "No thanks, I'd just like a room."

Inside, his thoughts were different. _Of course I'd of _liked _you to, but thanks to May and her selfishness, I was an outlaw. That's what I get for trusting such a bitch._

He didn't phrase these of course. That would be stupid.

The nurse smiled at him. "All right, that would be fine, Mr.."

"Sato. My name is Red Sato."

_Or Ash Ketchum._

"Well, Mr. Sato, we have quite a few rooms open. Most people don't get here for another month or two, it generally takes longer for them to finish the Gym Circuit. I assume you want a corner room."

"That would be great. Looks like this day is shaping up after all."

The nurse handed him a key ring. "Your room is room three thirty-seven. We hope to see you again."

He graciously accepted them. "Thanks, nurse. I'll be back here in a bit."

Once he was inside the room, he turned his head to his left shoulder. "You can appear now. Just don't tack –"

He finished his sentence too late as he was attacked by a certain pink cat attaching itself to his head. He sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Mew, I know I'm a good trainer, but can you _please _stop attacking my head."

The Pokémon shook its head. Red, despite not being able to see due to the cat on his face, guessed what it had done. "I can't see you when you shake your head if I can't see anything."

Reaching up, he gently pried the Pokémon off. "Thanks for coming with me when you-know-what happened. It means a lot."

Ah.. thanks a lot, Ash. You know me and Celebi wouldn't leave you alone after what May did.

Red sighed. "Please, call me Red. Only my old _friends_ called me Ash, and I just don't like the name anymore. So, what do you think of the room?"

The Pokémon and trainer looked around the room. It had a fairly large bed, a miniature kitchen, and a curtains that were fortunately closed. He didn't any rumors of Mew sightings going around.

It's great. Why didn't you want you want to battle anymore?

"I just wasn't the same with Pikachu dead. Stupid _May_, falsely accusing me. If that hadn't happened, Pikachu would be alive right now. Wait, why are you asking? You know this.."

Mew's smug grin told him everything. "Damnit! Why?"

He ran to the door, trying to escape before _he_ came, but _he_ started pounding on the door.

Red glared at Mew. "Why did you have to bring _Max_ in here?"

Max was wandering aimlessly around the halls of the Pokémon Center. He smiled, knowing he would have an easy time at the Conference, at least until the quarter-finals if his ease with the Gyms was any sign. He would have continued walking if he hadn't heard a particular sentence.

" Please, call me Red. Only my old _friends_ called me Ash, and I just don't like the name anymore."

He froze. _No, this is just a coincidence. Just someone _else _called Ash. It's got to be a common name._

Then came the next. " I just wasn't the same with Pikachu dead."

Max was trembling in fury. _Ash_ was _Red_? The Red that hated his sister? The one that had stopped her from winning _any _contests except for those four, and those only to humiliate her further? He ran up and started pounding on the door. "Open up, you bastard! Ash, Red, whatever you call yourself! Why!"

The door opened and Max fell through. He turned to glare at the teen, only to shrink back at the intensity of the response.

"You want to know why?" Red's voice was cool and dangerous. "You want to know why? Because your saint of a sister lied."

Max's fury blazed up again." You're saying she lied to _me_? Her _brother_!"

Red and Mew glared back. "I see you don't believe me. Fine. Rather than tell you, I'll _show _you."

He pulled out a Pokéball. "Time travel can be _very_ effective for this. Celebi, care to show Max what _really_ happened?"

The pixie that materialized nodded it's head. Crying out, it let loose a wave of blue light in all directions, and the two pairs of humans and Pokémon vanished.

**So, the back-story. May framed Ash for a crime, what the crime was is yet to be shown. As a result of this, he was supposed to have been sent to jail, and his Pokémon sold in auction. He escaped with Pikachu, but lost the rest. After surviving for about six months, Pikachu died of sickness. Due to Ash being a wanted criminal, he couldn't go to a Pokémon Center. After moping about for a few months, he cleared his name, though May still insisted he was guilty in fear of what would happen if it was found out she framed him. Ash, now nearly moneyless and without his Pokémon, was approached by Mew and Celebi, who convinced him **_**not**_** to kill himself, and allowed themselves to be captured. After trying out battling again, Ash could bring himself to continue without Pikachu. Instead, he started contests, tracking down May and making sure she couldn't win any ribbons. When he was done with this, he headed to the Cave of Origin in hopes of finding some way to have one last conversation with Pikachu. However, he was confronted by Max in the Pokémon Center, and that's where we left off.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I would like to clear a few things up before I start this. One question a reviewer asked was why didn't Ash or his Pokémon try to find each other. The answer is this- Ash didn't seek them out because he was trying to stop May from entering the Grand Festival, and he didn't lawfully own them. His Pokémon didn't because they thought he was dead. After all, he did disappear without warning, and they haven't seen him for a year and a half. I hope that explains it.**

Max rubbed his eyes trying to clear them; the scene in front of him was too impossible to be real. After all, black voids with mind-numbing amounts of floating colorful images can't exist naturally. Realizing that it was, in fact, real, he turned to glare at Red.

"Why did you bring me here," he shouted. "What do you want?"

Red glared back. "I didn't bring you here, Celebi did. I asked him to because I wanted you to see the truth of what happened last year, not what your sister told everyone."

Max quieted down. He was trapped, he realized, and demanding that Red take him back obviously wouldn't work. The best he could do was to go along with it and try to escape later. He watched as Red walked over the void to an image. As the older teen touched the image, he turned and spoke. "This is what caused the events leading up to what your sister did. This is where it all started."

The image expanded, engulfing the others floating around. It had no sound, but Max could tell what was going on from the actions of the three people inside. One was a teen with messy black hair and a Pikachu on his shoulder, a person Max recognized as Ash. The second was a younger version of his sister, she looked to be maybe one or two years later. The third was another teen, this one a grassy-haired boy.

The first and the second were standing next to each other, talking with the third. The third seemed to be apologizing, and the first seemed to be accepting it, but the younger version of May wasn't. Red began talking. "After may defeated him at the Grand Festival, Drew wanted to apologize for being an ass. May, for all her talk of forgiveness, wouldn't accept it. She got mad at me, and ran off."

The May in the picture did just that, and the picture shrank. Red walked over to another, and it too grew until it filled their vision. This time, the grassy-haired coordinator was absent, though the other two were still there. The two seemed to be arguing, though the black-haired trainer seemed to be the calmer of the two. Red started talking again. "Here, I tried to explain to May that Drew just wanted to apologize. She still wouldn't have it. I gave up, and decided to try again when she calmed down. She never did."

The image shrunk back again. Another grew to take its place as the dominant image. In this, the black-haired trainer kept trying to approach the younger May, but she walked away as soon as she saw him.

"No matter how many times I tried, May wouldn't listen. She wouldn't even talk. I started to get worried around now."

This image shrank back, and Red walked past Max to an image behind the starting trainer. This image grew, though something seemed different about it. It was as if the image was darker, though Max couldn't see any change in tint. The image showed the black-haired boy running over to a shiny Eevee. He seemed to glare at someone behind him, and the image shifted to show the younger May.

"May wanted the Eevee, but after what she did to weaken it, I didn't think she should have it."

True to Red's word, the Eevee was in terrible condition. Its leg seemed to be broken, and its fur was matted with blood. The black-haired boy pulled out a Pokéball, and said something to the younger May. She said something back, and pulled out one of her own.

"We agreed to fight for it. I won."

The battle passed as a blur, as if it was a terrible nightmare one wanted to forget. In the end, a Sceptile stood panting over an unconscious Blaziken. As the boy tapped the Eevee with a Pokéball, the girl snapped out an insult to the boy, and pulled out her five remaining Pokéballs. She quickly called hers out and knocked out the boy before he could react. Max could only stare in shock at what happened next. The younger May released the unconscious Eevee from its Pokéball, stomped on the ball, and ground it under her heel. She then pulled out a Pokéball of her own, and captured the Eevee.

"She knocked me out, and permanently released it. She then caught it, and slipped the Pokéball back into my bag."

The image faded away. Red glanced at Max. "Do you know what happened next? She claimed I had stolen her Pokémon. Because the Eevee was registered under her ID, they ruled me guilty. She got the Eevee, as for me, I was out through hell. My Pokémon were sold at an auction, and I was being transported to jail. As the van passed though Viridian forest, a Pidgeot ripped open the metal room and pulled me out of the van. That Pidgeot was mine from my first journey, one of two Pokémon to avoid being sold. It took me to the other, Pikachu. Later that year, Pikachu died of disease. I couldn't visit a Pokémon Center. Outlaws aren't allowed to."

Max felt empty inside. His sister - _his own sister! _- had lied, stolen, and betrayed someone who had been her best friend. It was no wonder that Red hated her, he couldn't blame the teen.

Red continued. "That's when I ran into the two Pokémon you saw earlier. Mew had been following me for a while, she always caused trouble when she showed up. Celebi was an old friend from Ilex Forest. They, along with Pidgeot convinced me not to kill myself. They brought three Pokéballs. I used one for each of them and one for Pidgeot. I began contests under the identity Red, until I was able to clear my name. The League still refused to give back my Pokémon, because they didn't want to have to pay the buyers back."

Max was shocked at this. The League he had looked up to for years was that corrupt?

The older teen resumed talking. "I still used the name Red. Ash didn't feel right anymore. I started contests, I couldn't battle without Pikachu. I tracked down May and made sure she couldn't win. When I was done, I went to Sootopolis to look in the Cave of Origin. I wanted to find a way to talk to Pikachu one last time. That's when I ran into you."

He turned to Max. "Do you still think your sister is innocent?"

Max could only shake his head. "I- I don't know. No. Sh- She isn't."

**To explain where they are. They are in a mindscape created by Mew while using Celebi's power to display memories as floating images. That is also why Mew and Celebi are absent in this chapter. After thinking for a bit, I realized Pidgeot wouldn't be sold due to Ash not owning it. I decided he was rescued by it and it is one of his three current Pokémon. You know the other two.**


End file.
